Syria on Monday put into service a $400 million power plant funded by Japan, the official SANA news agency reported.

The 600 megawatt fuel-fired al-Zara station was built near Hama, in central Syria, by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), said SANA. Work started in 1997.

MHI is also setting up a new 1,000-megawatt power plant in Aleppo, in northern Syria, funded by Saudi Arabia.

According to the electricity ministry, the demand for power is to grow from 22 billion kilowatt hours last year to 73 billion in 2020, requiring investments in new plants totaling $1.5 billion annually over 20 years.—AFP.